PN will vote against Anglu Farrugia nomination for Speaker

The Nationalist Party will vote against the appointment of Anglu Farrugia as Speaker of the House, after Opposition leader was not consulted on the nomination by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the PN said.

Parliament convenes on Saturday for the opening of the twelfth legislature.

The PN parliamentary group met Wednesday, declaring it would not support Farrugia - the former Labour deputy leader for parliamentary affairs - for the post of Speaker, but that it would nominate a deputy Speaker as proposed by Muscat.

"The Prime Minister decided to nominate Farrugia as Speaker without any consultation, when Lawrence Gonzi has already declared that it would be an insult to the House that an MP is not appointed Speaker," the PN said.

Farrugia was asked to resign his position ahead of the electoral campaign in December 2012, after a disastrous TV encounter with PN deputy leader Simon Busuttil, and for suggesting that Magistrate Audrey Democoli could have been politically motivated in a court decision.

Farrugia, who decided not to run for election, declared that he had been "backstabbed" by Muscat after having given him his unquestionable loyalty.